1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to educational and instructional card based systems and tools. More specifically, the present invention relates to easily distinguishing particular answer cards with specifically associated question cards from a group or deck of various associated and unassociated cards.
2. Description of Related Art
People have invented and played games possibly since our origination. Game pieces have been uncovered by archeologists in the ruins of the very earliest civilizations. Objects resembling dominoes were apparently in use during the time of Noah. Educational uses of game playing activities are probably equally as ancient.
There have been numerous attempts to provide enjoyable, game based learning systems for use by the general public. Perry, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,433, describes a learning system where students match three dimensional blocks with specially shaped receptacles located on a game board. Perry's learning system allows a student to match a specific question with a pre-designated correct answer by locating uniquely shaped studs on each block so that any one stud may be fitted into only one pre-selected game board receptacle. The blocks present questions and the corresponding answer is located on the game board proximate to a particular receptacle.
While Perry's invention does limit the association of each question block to a pre-selected correct answer, it is unwieldy in wider applications. The physical dimensions of a Perry based game that would include several hundred question/answer combinations would be large and therefore difficult to house and use. Such a game system would also be quite expensive to design, manufacture and distribute.
Tung Y. Chu, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,019, discloses a block structure having interlocking slots and arms so that a particular block will interlock with a main block structure. Clyde Pollock, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,407, presents another three dimensional block based system with the variation of employing recesses and bosses to associate blocks together correctly.
Clyde Pollock further provides, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,408, a fixed holder for assembling an array of blocks. Jason Argiro, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,799, discloses a multiplication table instructional device consisting of a number of blocks tied together with elastic bands. The blocks may be arranged together in relation to the deformation patterns of the elastic bands. Herbert S. Chase, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358.274, shows an educational game system employing pivotally attached blocks.
None of the prior art using three dimensioned blocks, to include the examples cited above, have evaded the cost and size limitations of Perry in their invented structures.
Card based educational games are in wide use today. There are, for example, literally hundreds of ways in which the standard 52 card deck is used to teach the Arabic decimal numbering system. A player-student can learn and reinforce his or her knowledge of counting and ordering by matching the Arabic symbols on the card with an actual count of the quantity of symbolic hearts, clubs, spades or diamonds present on one face of each card.
Specialized card symbol sets have been created for use in particular games, such as ROOK or UNO. These two examples also employ Arabic numerals and unique symbol counts. Colors may also be employed to distinguish suits, such as green and red rather than clubs and hearts.
The educational value of the games of the prior art is limited to comparing the visual count of symbols located on each card with an Arabic numeral.
Flash card based systems require either the presence of a tutor or teacher, or merely provide a correct answer on the flip side from the question card. Requiring the presence of a teacher or tutor is significantly expensive, and the provision of a correct answer on the back of the card imposes the need for a great deal of discipline on the part of the student.
There is, therefore, a long felt need in the educational arts to provide an economical, widely applicable and easily used teaching apparatus that enables a student or game player to compare a card presenting a question with a card presenting an answer and to quickly determine the validity of correspondence between the two cards as proposed by the student or game player.